AfricaConnect Meeting and Workshop on IoT-Based Acquisition of Research Data for Scientific Computing

Africa/Accra
Italy

Italy

ICTP, Trieste
Clement Onime (ICTP), Omo Oaiya (WACREN)
Description

This event in Trieste will build on the successes of the Accra (2023, 2024) and Ile-Ife (2024) IoT Workshops, expanding its impact on African climate scientists and IT engineers. At the Euro-Africa High-Level Meeting, WACREN, ICTP, and other key funders will engage with African and European researchers to explore deploying a regional climate data infrastructure, leveraging NREN infra and High-Performance Computing (HPC) centres, as part of the next phase of the AfricaConnect project.

Know more about this activity here - https://indico.ictp.it/event/10787 

WACREN Secretariat
    • 09:15 09:30
      Welcome message 15m
      Speaker: Prof. S. Scandolo (ICTP)
    • 09:30 10:45
      Overview/participants introduction 1h 15m
      Speaker: Prof. Clement Onime (ICTP)
    • 10:45 11:20
      BREAK 35m
    • 11:20 12:30
      IoT sensors kit for monitoring pollution of surface water bodies 1h 10m
      Speaker: Prof. E. Pietrosemoli (ICTP)
    • 12:30 13:30
      LUNCH 1h
    • 13:30 14:30
      Introduction to IoT 1h
      Speaker: Mr M. Zennaro (ICTP)
    • 14:30 16:00
      General introduction to Arduino programming 1h 30m
      Speaker: Mr M. Baruzzo (ICTP)
    • 16:00 16:30
      BREAK 30m
    • 16:30 18:00
      3D printing for rapid prototyping in environmental monitoring 1h 30m
      Speaker: Mr C. Fonda (ICTP)
    • 09:00 09:30
      RECAP of Day 1 30m
    • 09:30 10:45
      Introduction to IoT communications 1h 15m
      Speaker: Prof. E. Pietrosemoli (ICTP)
    • 10:45 11:15
      BREAK 30m
    • 11:15 12:30
      Introduction to MQTT protocol 1h 15m
      Speaker: Dr R. Paškauskas (ICTP)
    • 12:30 13:30
      LUNCH 1h
    • 13:30 14:30
      Introduction to IoT gateways 1h
      Speaker: Dr R. Paškauskas (ICTP)
    • 14:30 16:00
      Hands-on: Installing an IoT platform for MQTT data collection 1h 30m
      Speaker: Prof. Clement Onime (ICTP)
    • 16:00 16:20
      BREAK 20m
    • 16:20 17:50
      Hands-on: From sensors to gateway to IoT platforms 1h 30m
      Speakers: Prof. Clement Onime (ICTP), Dr R. Paškauskas (ICTP)
    • 09:00 09:30
      Recap of Day 2 30m
    • 09:30 10:45
      Advance tasks and exercise on IoT platforms: high availability, data archival and extracting data from archival DB 1h 15m
      Speaker: Prof. Clement Onime (ICTP)
    • 10:45 11:15
      BREAK 30m
    • 11:15 12:30
      Powering IoT sensors, kits and gateways 1h 15m
      Speaker: Prof. E. Pietrosemoli (ICTP)
    • 12:30 13:30
      LUNCH 1h
    • 13:30 14:30
      Introduction to tinyML 1h
      Speaker: Prof. M. Zennaro (ICTP)
    • 14:30 16:00
      Basic Data Science: Introduction and best practices, data protection and ethical use of data 1h 30m
      Speaker: Mr S. Gizaw (ICTP)
    • 16:00 16:30
      BREAK 30m
    • 16:30 18:00
      Hands-on: Working with data: cleanup, deduplication & scaling 1h 30m
      Speaker: Prof. Clement Onime (ICTP)
    • 09:00 09:30
      Recap of Day 3 30m
    • 09:30 10:45
      Hands-on: Working with data: tools for graphing, A.I models 1h 15m
      Speaker: Prof. Clement Onime (ICTP)
    • 10:45 11:15
      BREAK 30m
    • 11:15 12:30
      Introduction to Machine Learning and neural networks 1h 15m
      Speaker: Prof. Clement Onime (ICTP)
    • 12:30 14:00
      LUNCH 1h 30m
    • 14:00 16:15
      AfricaConnect High-level Meeting: Empowering Climate Research: Enhancing NREN Infrastructure, Regional Collaboration, and Open Data

      AfricaConnect High-level meeting on broader participation and opportunities for enhancing regional infrastructure for data acquisition and scientific computing.

      In the second part of this session, Invest in Open Infrastructure (IOI) will explore with participants collective funding models and approaches to center and support African climate data and infrastructure needs. The session will showcase learnings from IOI’s engagement in Africa and experience in coordinating multi-stakeholder funds, and explore intersections with current needs from research communities served through the AfricaConnect program and beyond.

      Convener: Omo Oaiya (Chief Strategy Officer, WACREN)
      • 14:00
        AfricaConnect and NREN Infrastructure for Climate 20m
        Speaker: Omo Oaiya (WACREN)
      • 14:20
        Leveraging Regional Climate Data for Actionable Research: WASCAL’s Role in Strengthening NREN Collaboration and Climate Resilience in West Africa 20m
        Speaker: Prof. Kehinde Ogunjobi (Research Director, WASCAL)
      • 14:40
        Advancing Earth Observation for Climate Research: AfriGEO’s Vision for Strengthening Data Sharing and Regional Collaboration 20m
        Speaker: Ken Kasera (Regional Centre for Mapping of Resources for Development (RCMRD) /AfriGEO Secretariat)
      • 15:00
        Group Discussion 45m
      • 15:45
        Networking break 30m
    • 16:15 18:00
      AfricaConnect High-level Meeting: Co-designing funding for climate research data infrastructure in Africa

      AfricaConnect High-level meeting on broader participation and opportunities for enhancing regional infrastructure for data acquisition and scientific computing.

      In the second part of this session, Invest in Open Infrastructure (IOI) will explore with participants collective funding models and approaches to center and support African climate data and infrastructure needs. The session will showcase learnings from IOI’s engagement in Africa and experience in coordinating multi-stakeholder funds, and explore intersections with current needs from research communities served through the AfricaConnect program and beyond.

      Convener: Kaitlin Thaney (Executive Director, Invest in Open Infrastructure (IOI))
      • 16:15
        Welcome and framing 10m
      • 16:25
        Building a landscape view of climate data infrastructure needs in Africa 40m
        Speakers: Kaitlin Thaney (Executive Director, Invest in Open Infrastructure (IOI)), Omo Oaiya (WACREN)
        • Data infrastructure for climate 10m
        • Group Discussion 20m
          • What are some of the data infrastructures that are heavily relied upon in climate research (Africa or outside of Africa)?
          • What are some of the most pressing climate data needs in Africa?
          • What are some of the key individuals, research groups and networks doing climate research in Africa?
          • What questions do we have as we answer the above 3 questions - what do we not know, especially in the African context?
        • Reporting out 10m
      • 17:05
        Exploring funding models and sources 50m
        • Modelling collective funding 20m
          • IOI fund as a model of collective funding
          • Why diversified types of contributing funders
          • Why focussing on networks and network adoption
          • Importance of strategic support and peer-to-peer learning beyond funding
        • Exploring Current Funding Models for Climate Research and Data Infrastructure in Africa 10m
        • Group discussion 20m
        • Share out and report to group 10m
      • 17:55
        Conclusion 5m

        Next steps on working together, building an understanding and shaping a climate fund

    • 09:00 09:30
      Recap of day 4 30m
    • 09:30 10:30
      Forum discussion on open data: Publishing and sharing data 1h
      Speaker: All participants (WACREN & ICTP)
    • 10:30 11:30
      Forum Discussion: Addressing IoT security multi-layers 1h
      Speaker: All participants
    • 11:30 12:30
      Feedback session and closing remarks 1h
      Speaker: All participants